When he turned to look where his gaze was directed, the male participant who had introduced himself as an IT startup CEO was talking with the female participant who had become his partner. It seemed she had chosen that man as her desired match but failed in the pairing.
‘I feel kind of bad….’
Even though Sungjin didn’t need to think that way, he felt guilty for some reason, as if he was interfering with his romantic business(?). Watching the other participants actively asking each other questions and trying to get to know one another made him feel even more uncomfortable.
He hadn’t come to this program to find a lover in the first place, and in a way, wasn’t he a bad participant(?) who was only interested in the rice cakes offered at the ritual and had no heart for the prayer itself? He felt a pang of guilt on his own.
‘……’
It was the same even after the mission had officially started. Harin, who had been paired with Sungjin, couldn’t take her eyes off the place where she could hear the other participants chattering and laughing.
The task assigned to Sungjin and Harin was to prepare firewood for the barbecue party and campfire in the evening. It seemed the production team had planned this so male participants could show off their physique and stamina. It was a two-person cooperative mission where one person prepared the wood and brought it to position, and the other person chopped the firewood.
The other participants were assigned to prepare ingredients or harvest them at the set installed in front of the resort. Only this pair had to work alone together at the back of the resort.
If Sungjin had any real intention of seducing his partner, there would be no better opportunity than this, but unfortunately, both Sungjin and Harin seemed to have little interest in each other.
‘……’
‘……’
Thanks to that, in the backyard where the two stood side by side, only the sound of firewood being set down and split echoed, and warm, friendly conversation didn’t continue for long. Don’t you need to clap both hands together to make a sound? Sungjin tried to somehow have a conversation in his own way, but he didn’t get very good results.
‘Harin-ssi, you said you’re currently taking a break, right?’
When Sungjin asked carefully, Harin’s complexion darkened.
‘Ah. …Yes.’
It didn’t seem to be a very good topic. Sungjin suppressed the feeling of wanting to cry and spoke again.
‘If you were a flight attendant, you must have traveled to many countries. Which country did you like the best?’
Then another bland answer came back.
‘I… liked being in Korea the most. The work didn’t really suit me.’
Ah… I see. Since the other person had no will to continue the conversation at length like that, there was nothing much Sungjin could do either. Basically, after becoming quite presentable in appearance alone, he’d received unwarranted favor from others, so usually conversations went well with this much effort. However, Harin just kept glancing elsewhere and seemed unmotivated. Ah…. Sungjin sighed inwardly.
After his appearance on COOL&BEAUTY was confirmed, Sungjin hurriedly binge-watched dating shows that had aired until then. Since dating shows adopted different concepts and formats for each program, he could see truly diverse casts.
There were people whose jaws dropped open, making you think ‘Wow, you have to be that out of your mind to appear on a program like this,’ and there were people who suffered from viewers’ pointing fingers and barrages of malicious comments asking why they even came on if they were going to act like that. Thanks to that, Sungjin began to anticipate the reaction Harin would receive from viewers.
‘She’s going to get cursed at… a lot….’
Why did she even come on if she was going to act like that, even if you don’t like your partner, isn’t it impolite to show it that obviously, and so on. It might even be better for her to be completely edited out.
‘……’
So this was also one of his personality flaws. Because he’d spent too long as a loser who couldn’t properly fit into groups and was ostracized, when he could see someone was going to suffer some hardship, it was hard for him to turn away and ignore it.
He should worry about his own situation and mind his own business. Even knowing he’d get an earful for it, if there was something he could do, it was better to just volunteer and feel at ease. Sungjin was the kind of person who, when the elevator over-capacity warning sounded, would be the first to get off even though no one pushed him—it just put his mind at ease.
In the end, it was Sungjin who made the questionable proposal.
‘Harin-ssi. I think I can do this by myself. Would you like to go over there and help the others?’
When Sungjin spoke first, Harin’s eyes widened for a moment. Her kind deer-like eyes widened round, creating an impression that would evoke compassion not only from most men but also from women. Harin blinked her eyes and asked back.
‘Is that okay?’
She’s not refusing. Sungjin smiled bitterly inwardly as if looking at distant mountains.
‘There doesn’t seem to be a rule saying you can’t leave the mission location or that two people must do it together. Seeing how they said it’s possible to go help other teams after finishing, I think we can move somewhat flexibly, so I’m fine with it, so please go help those people.’
At Sungjin’s words, Harin finally showed a pure smile.
‘Thank you…! I’ll be counting on you. See you later then!’
Harin left those words and departed without looking back. This person… doesn’t have an ounce of consideration. She seemed accustomed only to receiving and had no will whatsoever to try thinking about others’ positions.
Wasn’t it just like that now? When the team assignment results didn’t suit her taste, she openly showed a gloomy expression, and only when Sungjin first suggested a solution did she show a smile like sunshine. That sight looked so familiar that he could feel she was someone who had solved life’s various problems this way.
‘She was also the most passive during self-introductions earlier.’
It seemed unlikely the production team didn’t know she was this type. He thought it might be a character deliberately selected for the program’s ratings and stimulation. If they caught one good incident, probably hundreds of mass-produced shorts cursing that person would be made and draw attention.
‘……’
Even after sending Harin off as she wanted, his mind wasn’t at ease. However, there was nothing more he could do for her. He’d already sent Harin off as she wanted, and it was too late to take it back now.
At times like this, it was better to move his body. If the work was hard enough that he had no time to think about other things, at least his head would empty out. Sungjin quickly piled up a lot of firewood and brought it over, then picked up the axe again.
Thud, thud. As he lifted the heavy metal blade and split the wood, sweat soon trickled down his forehead. Sungjin rolled down the sleeves he’d rolled up to wipe his forehead, but soon there was so much sweat that wearing clothes itself felt bothersome.
‘Should I just take it off?’
Doing physical labor made it so humid and hot that he wanted to take off this cumbersome shirt. He was alone anyway, and among the male participants, there was someone who appeared openly with his abs and chest exposed. So this level of exposure probably wouldn’t look that strange. I should appeal with something too… anyway it would be good. He didn’t know how the editing would turn out, but he was fairly confident in his body after working out so hard.
Finally making up his mind, Sungjin reluctantly took off his shirt and set it down on the woodpile. Then, with his upper body completely undressed, he started chopping firewood again.
As a result, the backyard became a situation where only Sungjin and the camera remained, alone and half-naked, showing off his physique while chopping wood. Sungjin had no idea whatsoever what consequences would follow from this.
***
Meanwhile, Yuwon was also having an uncomfortable time having been matched with an unwanted partner.
“……”
“……”
Yuwon was staring into empty space with eyes that didn’t feel even a bit of warmth, repeatedly folding the sheet in his hands into neat squares with sharp corners.
“Ah~. It would have been nice if we could work together in the front yard too. What a shame.”
The person partnered with Yuwon wasn’t Sungjin, whom he’d targeted, but Jiyoon. Why on earth? As soon as the team assignment results came out, Yuwon glared at his cousin standing behind the camera with crossed arms.
Well, it wouldn’t be fun if I gave you everything you wanted. Yuwon immediately grimaced but endured because he couldn’t complain in front of everyone. I told you to cooperate well, didn’t I? Yurim seemed to be saying that with his expression. It was true that he hadn’t cooperated.
‘……’
On the airplane flying to Jeju Island. Sungjin sat in the seat next to Yuwon, unaware of anything. Sungjin himself didn’t know who was on the same plane or how many of the cast members were on board. It was none other than Yuwon who had requested that the tickets be issued so they would sit next to each other on the Jeju-bound flight.
